How the pandemic has forced an evolution of live events.

In 2019, the live events industry was booming with Live Nation reporting over $11.5B in revenue. Then the pandemic essentially shut it down overnight. This analysis examines how the industry has been forced to evolve — and why the changes will outlast the crisis.

In 2019, the live events industry was booming. Concert promoter Live Nation reported over $11.5 billion in revenues1 ( Statista ), and the industry as a whole was expected to continue its impressive growth in 2020. No one could have predicted the true impact that the global pandemic would have. Despite strong Q1 numbers, the industry essentially shuttered overnight as people sought safety from the virus in their homes. For music artists this was devastating. Concert revenues have historically made up the majority of an artist’s income and for the biggest superstars, this can represent as much as 75% of their total earnings. According to Pollstar , this resulted in a staggering $9.7 billion in losses. As the months drew on with little end in sight, the pandemic forced a complete reinvention of the live events category and paved the way for the adoption of new technologies and digital solutions to increase fan engagement and elevate the experience. TechNexus has actively monitored how this space has evolved over the past year, from legacy band-aid solutions, to new ventures and platforms digitizing the existing concert experience, to unique solutions that are shattering the boundaries of virtual events as we’ve ever known them. The evolution of Live Events - March 2020 to today. What we saw first...Legacy Providers quickly disappointed There is no experience quite like going to an in-person live event. From the moment you find out your favorite artist is playing in your city, to the day of, it’s filled with unparalleled excitement. Unfortunately, linear live streams have a hard time replicating those feelings of anticipation and excitement. Early in the pandemic, artists turned to Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to fulfill their live streaming needs. However, it quickly became apparent that legacy streaming platforms were not sufficient for this problem. These platforms were never built to host high production quality audio and video experiences. They lacked

By Multiple Authors at TechNexus Venture Collaborative